Labor and such

New seasons is the perfect title for this state of life that I am in. So much has changed since last year. This year has adventures lurking around every corner, I can feel the exciting times and challenging times on their way with every passing day.

October 30, 2012 I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He weighed 9 lbs. and 8 oz. "They" say they only get bigger but I am praying they only get smaller. I'm not sure I would enjoy birthing another big boy like that. I planned a home birth through the whole pregnancy. We had midwife appointments all nine months, got the pool set-up in our house, and the labor began. It was Monday, October, 29th at 1:30 a.m. when I was awoken to a huge cramp. I've never felt contractions before so I didn't think, "Labor!" I got up and went to the restroom and on my way back to bed another one hit me. It was about that time that I realized I may be in labor. I tried not to wake James up as I fiddled on my phone for my contraction timer app that I had recently downloaded. Much to my attempt, James woke up. As I was trying to tell him that I MAY be in labor, obviously still in shock and denial, I doubled over against the wall with discomfort (the midwife always told me not to call contractions painful, just uncomfortable, ha!). A few minutes later we gave our midwife a call and she headed right over. We all expected me to be just a cm or two along but when she checked I was already 5 cm! James and the midwife quickly got the pool filled up so that I could be more comfortable through each contraction. From 1:30 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. the contractions continued to progress my body for the entrance of our son. It was a long day and I was so tired. After long hours of walking around the house and breathing through the "discomfort" I was finally passing out in between each contraction that came. This is a picture of me asleep while waiting for the next contraction to come. I was so tired that I didn't even realize that each time I fell asleep my midwife, her assistant, and my husband (James) were putting pillows all around me so I would be more comfortable. They were amazing!

I was in the pool when my water broke around 4:30 p.m. To be honest, I thought I had peed in the pool and the thought of that embarrassed me but my midwife exclaimed, "Your water broke!" I got so excited in that moment because I knew the next step would be pushing and I would soon be seeing my baby boy! The "discomfort" only grew in intensity and the pressure to push never came. I was encouraged to move out of the pool and into bed so that I could labor on my right side, then my back, then on my left side so that maybe Josiah could move to a better position that would encourage him to move out. It seemed like hours but I'm sure it was only minutes later of laboring in bed when my midwife checked me and told me the hardest thing to hear, "you've closed back up to 5 cm, it might be good to go ahead and check in at the hospital." Ugh, all that work to get to 10 cm only to have my body reverse. Obviously this was not an emergency because both baby and I were doing just fine but just a few minutes later we were checking in at the hospital. They were amazing and so caring for me. I felt like I was a queen or someone of high importance. I received the epidural and went bak to my normal smiling happy self that my husband had not seen in hours.

(a little blurry but you get the picture, I was good to go) When James walked back into the room after the epidural kicked in, I was smiling and talking and he said, "my wife is back!!" He was so happy to see me doing well. My body opened back up after a few hours to about 8 cm but was not progressing any further. The next morning they presented us with the option of scheduling a csection. They said that the reason Josiah was not coming out could be that his shoulders were wide and he was not in the correct postion. They told me that I could continue to labor and get back to 10 cm but that I might end up in the same situation that I was in at home where he wouldn't come out and my body would close up again. If that ended up being the case they would have to do an emergency csection. My family prayed with me and my dad gave me great wisdom before they left the room to let James and I decide. All we had to do was look at each other and we knew we both agreed without question, we would go ahead and schedule a csection.

So at 2 p.m. they wheeled me into the surgery and at 2:31 p.m. Josiah Evan Draper was born!

James was the best daddy and husband a woman could ask for. I never once saw the "tar poop" filled diapers. He changed every single diaper while we were in the hospital and would bring Josiah to me for nursing. He really took great care of us. I think the worse part about it all was simply the recovery. After a week or two I felt fine though. 

While my labor did not go as planned, I'm still so grateful for my son getting here safely and the care we both had. I wouldn't have it any other way. Maybe next pregnancy, if I play my cards right, I'll have a natural labor. I thought I would never get over not wanting to go through labor but almost 4 months later I can't WAIT to have a due date, wondering if tonight will be the night, and feeling the contractions as they progress my body in labor. I'm so excited for another chance to be a mommy. Till that time though I will continue to prepare my body through healing and healthy choices. 

Sincerely,

New Mommy 

***Just as a side note: I am ALL for home births. I support them 100% but I also support hospitals and a need for them. I think there is always a healthy balance.